


Arcade Contraband

by ScientistSalarian



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Drabble, F/M, First Dates, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-21 23:22:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13751361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScientistSalarian/pseuds/ScientistSalarian
Summary: A little drabble about Ryder's first date with Kandros and an arcade machine that made a long trip.





	Arcade Contraband

**Author's Note:**

  * For [haraya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/haraya/gifts).



“So how exactly does this work?” Tiran Kandros was stood over a dusty old arcade machine looking at Sara inquisitively.

“Honestly, I don’t know if it will work at all after all these years. This thing was old before we even left the Milky Way.” She rubbed some dust off of it with her sleeve and gave the machine a skeptical look. She plugged it in and after a moment of some rather peculiar noises, the machine lit up and music began to play from it. “Alright then, this date won’t be a total disaster after all!”

“This is our first date!” Tiran exclaimed.

“And if it had been a disaster than any other dates would have been great by comparison!” Sara was trying to defend herself but even she had to admit, the date was a bit of a gamble.

Tucked away beneath the main battery of the Hyperion, a lone pinball machine stood; a relic from a lost age. It was just something so quintessentially human and it made Sara’s heart fill with a sense of pride, and bittersweet nostalgia. It had been her and her brother’s favorite game as a kid, and through some miracle, and a lot of name dropping of their father, they were able to smuggle it aboard. 

Sara stood at the machine and showed the interested turian how the controls works. The spring activated plunger that launched the ball and the feeling of the buttons that activated the left and right flippers almost made her forget that was in an entirely different galaxy. She stepped aside and allowed Tiran to try his hand at the game.

He followed along as she had instructed but he soon found that the game wasn’t nearly as easy as it looked. “Dammit,” he mumbled as the ball dropped down the center. The game looked deceptively simple and he found himself surprised that he was having such trouble with it. 

Suddenly he was overcome with the urge to prove to her that he could master this ridiculous thing with its gaudy lights and cloying music. He focused in and launched the second ball. 

Sara was leaning against the machine, studying the turian as his mandible twitched and flicked almost in sync with the movements of his hands. She could tell just how hard he was concentrating and she couldn’t help but smile. Never in her life would she have thought she’d be standing in an ark in the Andromeda galaxy watching a turian try to impress her with his skills on a contraband arcade machine. “Not bad, Tiran,” she chirped to him after the third ball finally got away from him. “Now watch the master.” She knew she was being cocky but Tiran always seemed to enjoy when she sassed him.

First she adjusted her ponytail, then she gave Tiran a gleeful smirk before starting the game. Tiran watched in awe as she appeared to be one with the machine. Granted she’d had over a decade of practice on him, but he still couldn’t help being impressed. There was something so enticing about watching her excel at something so effortlessly. As she racked up a higher and higher score though, Tiran was itching to give the machine another shot. She finished her game with a proud look of satisfaction and gracefully stepped aside to allow him to take his turn.

“I have to do better this time,” he said with determination. Despite doing slightly better than before, he still found himself coming up for short of the numbers Sara has just put up. “You know, I just don’t think these buttons were made for turian hands,” he complained.

Sara stood close to him and look up at him with a grin. “Blaming the difference in anatomy are we?” She leaned against his side as she teased him and he put his arm around her.

“You try hitting those little plastic buttons with talons like these!” He looked as his hands and compared them to Sara’s. She reached out and intertwined her fingers with his and stood there enjoying the moment. It had just seemed so natural to be close to him like that despite this being their first date. She sighed deeply and let contentment wash over her. 

“I hope it was still fun though,” she said softly.

“Oh, I will be demanding a rematch. I just need a bit more practice first.” He leaned down and brushed his forehead against hers. “How about a few more rounds and then dinner?”

“That sounds perfect.”


End file.
